Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office closer to getting new cruiser

COSHOCTON – Coshocton City Council is revisiting the purchase of a new vehicle for the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office to better ensure the safety of city residents.

At tonight’s regular council meeting, members are targeted to vote on $40,000 in appropriations for the sheriff’s office to go toward the purchase of a 2014 Ford Police Interceptor. Council meets 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Council denied a request for purchasing a new vehicle for routine patrols and duties inside city limits in April.

However, the Ohio Department of Transportation is holding off on bidding an estimated $2.4 million paving project for Ohio 541 until September, pushing most of the work to 2015. The city is responsible for 20 percent of the project, with money to come from an Ohio Public Works Commission grant and zero-interest loan. The city would need to pay for $100,000 in curbs from available capital improvement funds.

Those capital improvement funds can be dipped into as it will be replenished by revenues next year. The capital improvement fund is specifically for purchase of structures, equipment and vehicles and is usually the fund cruisers are bought from.

Currently, a retired cruiser with more than 250,000 miles on it is being used for city patrols as another car was totaled in an incident in March 2013.

Lt. Dean Hettinger said because of wear and tear and mileage, most cars are retired after about two years of service if possible. They keep up on maintenance, but only so much can be done.

“It’s cost prohibitive to keep a vehicle around and try to repair it when it’s got so high mileage and so many other things are constantly breaking on it,” he said.

Estimated cost of the vehicle through a state buying program is about $38,000, including a police package. The extra amount is being set aside just in case so the vehicle can be ordered while council is on its usual summer break. Any leftover money would return to city coffers, said City Auditor Sherry Kirkpatrick.

Usually the city buys a new cruiser for the sheriff’s office every other year and bought a new Dodge Charger in 2013. Vehicles also were bought in 2010 and 2011. The sheriff’s office has 15 vehicles used in the county and six in the city.

The current $1.4 million contract between the city and sheriff’s office for police protection and services is up Dec. 31. Mayor Steve Mercer said negotiations for a new contract would begin shortly. Purchase of a new vehicle now would show the city’s commitment to the department, Mercer said. Buying vehicles has not been a part of past contracts, but Mercer said it could be added for the future.

“The sheriff’s department has recently taken a lot of people off the streets putting drugs in our community and have a lot of work to do,” said Councilman Brad Fuller. “We don’t want to impede that. We want to give them the tools they need to keep that work up.”